I am so ready for April that I'm not sure that I can endure the next four months. Everything in my Greenhouse is perfect. I can sit in my Greenhouse for hours and hours, and never leave. I like to l
ook at the beautiful plants, and I can see the changes coming even while I sit and watch. I would report that my beautiful wife Diana Rae grows plants that hang from hooks on her front porch. Before I had my Greenhouse I used to have to buy new hanging plants for her every spring. Now that I have the Greenhouse, I just grow the hanging plants there, and then just put them on her porch in April. She keeps them watered, and they just perform so well all summer long. O
ne plant that I particularly like is her Red Geranium. I took her one Red Geranium, and split it into three hanging plants. I'm showing one of the Red Geraniums; it is beginning to blossom its beautiful red flowers. Another hanging plant that Diana grows on her front porch is Coleus. She also grows it in her yard. I thought that I would show a picture of the Coleus also growing in the Greenhouse.
Diana grows several other hanging plants as well. She has come to really like "English Ivy" quite a lot. This started se
veral years ago when we visited Jack Carpenter at his garden that he calls "The Lily Farm" in Center, Texas. Jack grows many different types of Ivey, and Jack took the time to show the different types of Ivey that he grows to Diana, and to our good
friend Camilla Arthur. Because of this experience Diana now grows a "Variegated Ivy" that is an annual. I'm showing a picture of what it looks like hanging in the Greenhouse. Another plant that Diana grows is what she calls her "Spider Plant." It is a beautiful, variegated, green and white colored plant. I has what I could call "projections" where new plants are formed. Just a lovely plant for the summer porch.
One other hanging basket that I grow just for myself in the Greenhouse is a "Pitcher Plant." It really doesn't like tempe
ratures below 50 degrees, but for now I am keeping the Greenhouse temperature at a minimum of 40 degrees. Pitcher Plants also like about 50% shade, and although there is very little shade in the Greenhouse now, there is plenty of shade during the summer when I apply the "shade cloth" over the top of the Greenhouse. I keep the Pitcher Plant because flies, gnats, and other flying insects are attracted to its "pitchers." Then, they are induced into the pitchers from which they never return. So, the Pitcher Plant is actually a Carnivorous plant. Something nice to have in the Greenhouse to help control the flying critters.
Well, you might ask, why do you say that "everything's perfect in the Greenhouse"? The reason certainly isn't Diana's hanging baskets, or even your Pitcher Plant. How can everything be perfect? I hope that I can perhaps explain by citing my use of two different chemical products.
Diana grows several other hanging plants as well. She has come to really like "English Ivy" quite a lot. This started se
One other hanging basket that I grow just for myself in the Greenhouse is a "Pitcher Plant." It really doesn't like tempe
Well, you might ask, why do you say that "everything's perfect in the Greenhouse"? The reason certainly isn't Diana's hanging baskets, or even your Pitcher Plant. How can everything be perfect? I hope that I can perhaps explain by citing my use of two different chemical products.
One change that I have made in the Greenhouse is to begin using a product called "Bayer Advanced." I asked my friends, Ted and Randy Preuss, how they controlled pests in their new Greenhouse, and they recommended a product called Bayer. So, I went to Home Depot, and bought the product. It only costs about $25.00 for four (4) pounds. It protects for twelve (12) months, and is a "syste
Another change that I made in the Greenhouse is to begin using a product called "Abamectin." I bought
I say that these are two chemical changes that I have made, and I am glad to report that I have no fungus gnats, I don't have any spider mites, and I can't see any evidence whatsoever of thrips. I don't even see any rust anywhere at all. In fact, my Greenhouse is so clean, that there is no evidence of any flying insects, even inside the pitchers of my Pitcher Plants. All that I can say is that I have kept the Greenhouse very clean. I have dipped any new plants that have entered the Greenhouse, and I have avoided buying any plants from Florida. Now, I don't mean to bump the Florida plants, its just that they often are the source for infestation in the Greenhouse.
Well, I've shown pictures of the hanging baskets in the Greenhouse, but you should also see some of my daylilies. I'm showing a picture of Seedling 1-385 as it is right now i
Well, as I say, everything is, indeed, perfect in the Greenhouse.
Happy New Year!
Bill
Bill,
ReplyDeleteSeedling 1-385 was my favorite of yours this past years visit. When I visit hybridizer's gardens, I always look for a new look, pattern, shape, or color, and 1-385 has a color that I haven't seen anywhere else. Should be quick to sell out in it's first year of introduction. Love all the info you included as well. It must take you a while to put all this together on your blog. Excellent read always!
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that wonderful picture of KENNESAW MOUNTAIN HAYRIDE that you mailed to us. Such a beautiful daylily growing in your much colder climate. Diana has your picture on her refrigerator. As for 1-385, I am so pleased with this flower. The colors are indeed so striking and different. The white teeth are really white. The purple seems to be covered with a sheen of red, and the burgundy eye is likewise so different. I have seven (7) fans, and I hope to have many more this coming fall. I'll get it introduced as soon as I possibly can. Glad to have your note! Thanks.
Bill